CHAPTER XI.
THREE AMATEUR DETECTIVES.
Puzzling her brain what to do next, Louise suddenly decided to confide her secret to her two cousins.

Not that she considered them capable of a greater success than she could herself accomplish, but they might prove valuable assistants in the capacity of lieutenants.

She had great respect for Beth's calm judgment and keen intuitions, and Patsy had a way of accomplishing difficult things with ease.
The two girls listened to Louise with expressions of mingled wonder and amusement while she confided to them her first suspicions that Captain Wegg had been murdered, and then the bits of information she had gathered to strengthen the surmise and assure her she was justified in her efforts to untangle the web of mystery.
"You see, my dears," she explained, impressively, as the three lounged upon the grass in the shade of the right wing of the house, "there is a very interesting story about these people that ought to guide us directly to a solution of the puzzle.

A roving sea captain marries a girl of good family in spite of the opposition of her relatives.

His boatswain, a confidential servant, marries the girl's maid.